All for Tennessee
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All for Tennessee Women’s Basketball SEC Power Rankings for Jan. 31: Lady Vols Rise

By Caleb Calhoun

Dec 4, 2016; Knoxville, TN, USA; Tennessee Lady Volunteers head coach Holly Warlick speaks with her team during the second half against the Tennessee Lady Volunteers at Thompson-Boling Arena. Baylor won 88 to 66. Mandatory Credit: Randy Sartin-USA TODAY Sports
Dec 4, 2016; Knoxville, TN, USA; Tennessee Lady Volunteers head coach Holly Warlick speaks with her team during the second half against the Tennessee Lady Volunteers at Thompson-Boling Arena. Baylor won 88 to 66. Mandatory Credit: Randy Sartin-USA TODAY Sports /
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Dec 21, 2016; Gainesville, FL, USA; An overall view of Exactech Arena at the Stephen C. O'Connell during the second half between the Florida Gators and Arkansas Little Rock Trojans. Florida Gators defeated the Arkansas Little Rock Trojans 94-71. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports
Dec 21, 2016; Gainesville, FL, USA; An overall view of Exactech Arena at the Stephen C. O’Connell during the second half between the Florida Gators and Arkansas Little Rock Trojans. Florida Gators defeated the Arkansas Little Rock Trojans 94-71. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports /

All of a sudden, Amanda Butler’s Florida Gators have found a rhythm. We held off of moving them out of their second to worst spot in our SEC Power Rankings last week because the win over the Georgia Bulldogs just wasn’t enough.

The Gators could have just gotten red-hot at home.

And while this week they didn’t do anything special by losing to the Tennessee Lady Vols and beating the Vanderbilt Commodores, the way they looked is why they moved up. They kept the game with Tennessee inside single-digits, and they then blew out Vanderbilt.

Combining that with the collapse of other teams in the conference, and by default they had to move up significantly in our SEC Power Rankings.

They are still in the bottom tier, which has a lot of teams in the conference this year, but they are the top team of that bottom tier. And with the No. 63 ranked RPI, the Gators are the team in the bottom tier with the best chance at making the NCAA Tournament.

Now, we find out just how legit this run is. This week, they face the Texas A&M Aggies on the road first. Losing that game will do nothing to hurt them.

But after that, they face the Ole Miss Rebels and Arkansas Razorbacks at home. If they don’t want to fall back to the bottom, they need to win both games. Then they face the Alabama Crimson Tide on the road.

If they win all three, they’ll officially be in a tier above this bottom tier. But they have a lot of work to do to get there.